6 Design Elements To Consider For Your Space

While many of us are still in love with millennial pink, copper finishes, and subway tiles, it's time to make way for glam touches as richer colors, darker finishes, and patterns take center stage. If you haven't seen these yet, these elements will slowly take over this year—as you can see in magazines, websites, and even on social media. If you're hoping to update the look of your space, you still have time to review these trends and elements:

Bolder Color Palette

IMAGE Kurt Alvarez/ACME Visual Productions

From pastels and neutrals, you will see a shift toward rich, saturated colors—inspired by Pantone’s color of the year, Ultra Violet. Vibrant blues, greens and some reds are some of the hip choices, as more people make braver color selections when it comes to interiors—for both surface (walls, floors, ceiling) and finish (furniture and decor) alike.

Darker Finishes

The pristine white kitchen will be overcome by dramatic kitchen countertops like black or gray marble and quartz because 2018 is all about sophistication and glamour. Think dark wood finishes, away from the distressed, bleached looks.

IMAGE Dairy Darilag

Mixing Metals

Remember when you had to use uniform stainless steel finishes for your kitchen appliances and hardware? That’s not the case anymore. Brass, black, rose gold, gold, copper and even stainless finishes all work together and can be used interchangeably. To pull these metals together, make sure you choose one dominant finish while the others can be used as accents.

Organic Curves

IMAGE Jilson Tiu

Bid adieu to the sleek silhouettes we've been seeing in the last couple of years. Lines will be more relaxed—especially when it comes to furniture. The likes of the chesterfield sofa with the prominent tufting, demilune console tables and other curved furniture will be seen more often. Plush fabrics like velvet, chenille and suede will dress furniture to embrace the Modern Luxe trend.

The Comeback of Wallpaper

Statement walls and ceilings are “in” this year (but remember to use everything in moderation). Florals, nature-inspired prints, modern geometrics and metallics are some patterns and textures you can work with. Tile choices will even veer toward looking like wallpaper.

Greenery

IMAGE Dairy Darilag

Experiment with more plants in pretty planters, especially in smaller homes and condominiums, as a way of bringing nature indoors. Plants with ornate big leaves (fiddle leaf fig, philodendron) may be popular, but so are the ones that don’t require much of your attention or those that don't die easily like Sansevieria, Rubber plant, and Zanzibar Gem (ZZ plant).

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Interior designer Vera Villarosa-Orila is an alumna of the University of the Philippines and is one of the go-to designers for the Real Living Makeovers. You can get in touch with her through e-mail: vera.villarosa[at]gmail.com.

Do you have questions or concerns about your home's layout, furniture, and color scheme? Send your questions to reallivingonline[at]gmail.com with the subject: Expert Advice. We might answer and feature your queries online.